y, and riotous conduct. "Be
God-intoxicated men," the apostle would seem to say; "let the Spirit of
God so control you that you shall pour yourself out in psalms and hymns
and spiritual songs." If such divine enthusiasm has its perils, we
believe that they are less to be dreaded than that "moderatism" which
makes the servants of God satisfied with the letter of Scripture if
only that letter be skillfully and scientifically handled, rather than
giving the supreme place to the Spirit as the inspirer and motor of all
Christian service.

3. _The Anointing of the Spirit_. After the baptism and temptation we
find our Lord appropriating to himself the words of the prophet, as he
read them in the synagogue of Nazareth: {88} "The Spirit of the Lord is
upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach good tidings to the
poor" (Luke 4: 18). Twice in the Acts there is a reference to this
important event in similar terms: "Thy holy servant Jesus, whom thou
didst anoint" (Acts 4: 27, R. V.). "Jesus of Nazareth, how that God
anointed him with the Holy Ghost and with power" (Acts 10: 38). And as
with the Lord so with his disciples: "Now he that establisheth us with
you in Christ, and anointed us, is God" (2 Cor. 1: 21, R. V.).

A student of the Scriptures need not be told how closely the ceremony
of anointing was related to all important offices and ministries of the
servants of Jehovah under the old covenant. The priest was anointed
that he might be holy unto the Lord (Lev. 8: 12). The king was
anointed that the Spirit of the Lord might rest upon him in power (1
Sam. 16: 15). The prophet was anointed that he might be the oracle of
God to the people (1 Kings 19: 16). No servant of Jehovah was deemed
qualified for his ministry without this holy sanctifying touch laid
upon him. Even in the cleansing of the leper this ceremony was not
wanting. The priest was required to dip his right finger in the oil
that was in his left hand and to put it upon the tip of the right ear,
upon the thumb of the right hand, and upon the great toe of the right
foot of him that was to be cleansed, the oil "_upon {89} the blood of
the trespass-offering_" (Lev. 14: 17). Thus with divine accuracy did
even the types foretell the two-fold provision for the Christian life,
cleansing by the blood and hallowing by the oil--justification in
Christ, sanctification in the Spirit.

If we ask now what this anointing is, the reply is obviously the Holy
Spirit